This application claims the priority of German Application No. DE 100 08 492.3, filed in Germany on Feb. 24, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
This invention relates to a folding top for a motor vehicle with a folding top frame, which exhibits on the side a front, center and rear frame part, of which the center frame part can be adjusted by means of a four-membered joint, where a lever is formed by means of the rear frame part, and the front frame part can be adjusted with respect to the center frame part by means of three guides, of which in a swivel joint the first and second guides can be swivelled in succession around a motor vehicle cross axis and are hinged to the front frame part, and the first guide is hinged to the center frame part.
In German Patent Document DE 196 13 356 C2 such a folding top exhibits a folding top rod linkage with a side frame, comprising three parts. The front side frame part is connected to the center side frame part by a parallelogram guide arrangement. To control the movement of the front side frame part with respect to the center side frame part when opening and closing the folding top, the rear guide of the parallelogram guide arrangement has a connecting guide, with which a guide pin on one end of a dual armed lever can engage adjustably and whose other region forms a lever of a four-membered joint to guide the center side frame part. The connecting guide weakens the rear guide, which can deform especially in the case of a folding top that is difficult to adjust, if it is not dimensioned correspondingly larger or is produced with higher stability. In the case of a folding top that is symmetrical in the cross direction of the motor vehicle, the pins, which are located on the opposite sides and engage with an assigned connecting guide, do not contribute or hardly contribute to the stability of the folding top. If the folding top is unevenly loaded, for example, when opening or closing, the pins can move at least somewhat differently in the connecting guides, a state that makes it difficult or impossible to adjust the folding top.
An object of the invention is to provide a folding top for a motor vehicle with the features mentioned above where the folding top exhibits a simpler construction and greater stability.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention in that the third guide can be swivelled around a motor vehicle cross axis in a swivel joint and is hinged to the rear frame part and to the first guide; and the second guide can be swivelled around a motor vehicle cross axis in a swivel joint and is hinged to the third guide.
The guides and levers, provided to displace the side frame parts, are connected to the parts in question exclusively by swivel joints that are inexpensive to produce. The swivel joints permit only a swivel movement of the parts in questions around a motor vehicle cross axis and thus stabilize the folding top in every position of adjustment during the opening and closing operation. Thus, the folding top can be opened and closed more uniformly and with a smaller amount of force manually or with a motor. If the front frame part forms a front bow and the center frame part forms a main bow, these bows can extend in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle over a length of, for example, several decimeters, since the bows, arranged in succession in the closing position of the folding top, are displaced in such a manner, for example, in their side regions that in opening and closing the folding top, they are not in the adjusting region of the respective other part or another part of the folding top. In the maximum open position of the folding top, the front and center side frame parts or the front bow and the main bow are disposed compactly so as to be curved one over the other in the same direction. Preferably, the front bow or the rear bow, exhibiting a larger longitudinal stretch in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, can cover in such a manner partially or totally the other parts of the folding top in the maximum open position. Thus, there is no need for a canvas or folding top compartment cover, provided in other motor vehicles to cover the opened folding top.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.